Ironing-table



(No Model.)

G. R. ZIERFUSS.

IRONING TABLE.

No. 551,806. Patented Dec. 24, 1-895.

Wiigzsses ANDREW E GRAHAM PHOT0-LITHO.WA5nINGYON.n Cv

' UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

GUSTAVE R. ZIERFUSS, OF MILIVAUKEE, VISCONSIN.

lRONlNG-TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,806, dated December 24, 1895.

Application filed April 3, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUSTAVE R.Z1EEEUss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Ironing-Table, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ironing-tables, and the object in view is to provide a table adapted for ironing purposes having an extension ironing-board which, when not in use, may be folded and occupya position under the main table-top, simple and efficient means being provided for folding and arranging the ironing-board in operative position.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out inv the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a table constructed in accordance with my invention, the ironing-board being extended. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section showing the positions of the parts after the operation of folding the ironing-board. 1 Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the table turned to show its under side with the ironing-board in its folded position. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section parallel with and contiguous to the bar or keeper through which the board extends.

1 designates the main table-top provided with supporting-legs 2, which are connected by the end braces 3 and side braces I, and secured to the under surface of the top are the longitudinal parallel guides 5 provided in their inner sides with grooves 6 for the reception of the lateral edges of the adjustable ironing-board 7. V

In order to provide for the use of an ironing-board of greater length than the table-top 1 and yet employ such a construction that the board may be folded and arranged under the table-top so as to be concealed thereby, I construct the ironing-board in sections, the main section 7 being approximately equal in length with the main table-top, and the auxiliary section 7 b being hinged to the inner end of the main section, as shown at 8.

The grooves 6 in the parallel guides 5 ter- Serial No. 54=4-.,29l. (N0 model.)

minate at a distance from one of the end braces 3 equal, approximately, to the length of the auxiliary section or leaf 7 of the extension ironing-board by the omission of the projecting portions of the guides, whereby the guides are reduced in width and the interval between their inner faces is equal to the widthof the ironing-board, as shown at 9. This provides for the auxiliary leaf or section of the ironing-board swinging freely between these reduced portions of the guides, whereby when the ironing-board is moved inward said auxiliary leaf being unsupported swings to a pendent position, while the main portion of the board is maintained in the guides.

Aligned with the space between the guides and contiguous to the cut-away portions thereof is an opening 10 in one of the end braces 3, the depth of this opening being equal to more than double the thickness of the ironing-board, and hence as the ironingboard is pushed back to its folded position after the auxiliary leaf or section is dropped to. the pendent position the leaf is folded upon the main portion or section of the board, and the two parts in this folded position are projected into the opening 10. In this position the auxiliary leaf or section is folded approximately parallel with the main leaf or section, and the two are held in these relative positions and concealed by the main tabletop, as shown clearly in Fig. 4.

It is obvious that the above-described operation in folding the board is accomplished without effort upon the part of the operator, with the exception of pushing the main leaf or section inward. In other words, as the board is pushed under the table the auxiliary leaf or section drops by gravity and is then folded by the contact of the brace at the lower side of the opening 10 with the upper surface of the leaf. Any fixed transverse bar or member will perform the same function as the lower side of the opening in the brace; but I prefer the opening in alignment with the guide for the reason that it forms a convenient pocket or receptacle for the folded extremities of the main and auxiliary leaves, and at the same time the brace-bar is the ordinary finish for a table of this class.

In extending the ironing-board the auxil- ICO iary leaf again drops to the pendent position when removed from engagement with the fixed bar and is raised to the horizontal position in the plane of the main leaf or section by means of the shoulders 11 formed on the guides by cutting away the inner sides of the latter to form the reduced portions 9, and contiguous to these transversely opposite shoulders 11 is a transverse brace 12 connecting the guides.

I employ a folding support or leg 13'for maintaining the main leaf or section of the board in its operative position, said support or leg being provided with a longitudinal slot 1i, in which is arranged a transverse pin 15, a folding brace 16 being connected at one end to said transverse pin and provided at the other end with an eye 17 in engagement with an elongated keeper 18. This keeper is provided at its outer end with a notch or depression 19, in which the eye 17 drops when the support or leg reaches its operative position whereby the parts are locked in place. hen folded, the support or leg lies parallel with the plane of the main leaf or section of the ironing-board and passes through an opening 20 formed in the front brace 25, and the transverse brace 12 forms a keeper for maintaining the support or brace in its folded position when the ironing-board is arranged beneath the main table-top.

In order to secure the ironing-board at the desired extension I employ a swinging but ton 21, which is pivoted to the front brace 3 of the table and is adapted to engage one of a series of notches or sockets22 formed in the under surface of the ironing-board.

From the above description it will be seen that the automatic folding of the ironingboard depends upon the fact that the guide in which the board is mounted is constructed for a portion of its length to receive the lateral edges of the board and at a suitable point adjacent to a transverse folding bar is cut away or widened to allow the auxiliary leaf or section of the board to drop by gravity to an approximately vertical position. Hence when the auxiliary leaf engages at a point near its hinged end with the fixed turning-bar it is folded upon the main leaf or portion of the board and occupies a. position below the main table-top. By reason of the lower extremity of the support or leg 13 being in the path of the auxiliary leaf as it is folded upon the main leaf, said auxiliary leaf is prevented from folding into a plane exactly parallel with the main leaf, and hence the inward or rearward movement of the ironing-board is limited by the pressure of the surface of the auxiliary leaf against the lower side of the opening 10.

If it is desired to remove the ironing-board entirely from the table, it may be accomplished by preventing the backward folding of the auxiliary leaf and causing it to pass through the opening 10 in the plane of the main leaf.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination with a table-top, of guides arranged beneath the same, an ironing-board fitted at its side edges in said guides and having a main leaf and an auxiliary leaf hinged to the main leaf and adapted to be folded upon the main leaf, and a fixed transverse bar arranged in the path of the auxiliary leaf to engage and fold the same upon the main leaf, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a table-top, of parallel grooved guides secured to the under surface thereof and cut away at opposite points near one end of the table-top to provide a greater interval between their inner surfaces, an ironing-board fitted at its side edges in the grooves in said guides and having a main leaf and an auxiliary leaf hinged to the main leaf, the interval-between the cutaway portions of the guides being equal to the Width of the auxiliary leaf, and a transverse bar arranged below the plane of the guides and in the path of the, auxiliary leaf of the ironing-board to engage and fold the same upon the main leaf, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GUSTAVE, R. ZIERFUSS. \Vitncsses Gno. DE GRAssE, JOHN N. MoEHN. 

